Tracking attendance is very crucial for businesses. Timely attendance data helps the HR department to process payrolls efficiently and on-time.
If you work with a large enterprise, then there is very little room for error and might cost the company its time and money. As an HR, you also have other important things to take care of including conducting interviews, counselling and monitoring employees along with maintaining attendance systems.
So it is advisable to keep looking for newer techniques to ease the attendance tracking process by using software, apps, and biometric systems and making the process entirely or partially automatic.
Tracking employee attendance has never been an easy job. If you are wondering how you can reduce your work in the employee attendance department and making it more efficient, here are six practices that will help you do so:
1. Install a cloud-based tracking solution
A manual attendance tracking system is prone to errors. Even a little mistake will make the attendance system sluggish and inaccurate.
Paper timesheets and spreadsheets were primitive practices in tracking attendance. Just imagine handling 2,000 employees for an enterprise. To keep track of every month’s data, you will have to go through hundreds of sheets to consolidate the data.
As an HR manager, you always have to think ahead of time. Using an excel sheet to reduce work won’t help much. Instead, it slows down the process of calculating attendance and payroll.
The solution is simple. Install a centralized cloud-based attendance system that can be connected quickly from anywhere and at any time.
Connect the attendance system with the biometric devices installed at the office premises. Attendance gets recorded directly along with the time and the thumb imprint.
The cloud-based attendance systems can be accessed easily through mobile applications. It helps the HR team to access, edit and make any changes to the data quickly with ease.
2. Invest in an HRMS Solution
HR managers have a lot of other tasks to handle, and it can sometimes happen that you miss completing some tasks. The critical part of maintaining attendance system is keeping it up-to-date in real time, getting it approved by top-level management, and ensuring that your calculated payroll is accurate.
A HRMS Solutions offers all the essential features in one place. So you can track employee attendance, payroll, and manage leaves at the same place.
It also offers workflows to automate few repetitive and time-consuming tasks. The chances of missing out on important data are very minimal. So by the end of each month, you simply have to go through the list and take few manual actions.
With the HRMS Solution, you can also create multiple logins with various dashboards for senior management. It will enable them to have a quick look at the real-time data from anywhere and approve all the requests quickly.
3. Use a mobile application
Selecting a mobile app can be difficult, given that there are so many choices available in the market. Many such systems give you a free trial.
They are free for a month usually or a couple of weeks and you can use all its features. Some of the cloud-based software provides both desktop versions and mobile apps for their users. Try at least 4 to 5 applications before finalizing.
The best attendance-tracking application is the one that requires minimal or no training and has simple steps for getting monthly attendance approved by seniors. Mobile apps give you the privilege of accessing the data from anywhere with ease.
4. Self-service software
When it comes to managing a big company, you don’t always have time to look after every employee’s attendance. A self-service software notifies the employee his remaining work hours, monthly leaves, contact information, HR policies, check-in timings, etc. becomes vital. It should be easy to navigate so that you don’t need to ask the IT department to help you with it.
The software should also let you to easily transfer the attendance list to your excel sheet, where you keep the monthly attendance records. In the end, your aim should be making the whole process very easy and hassle-free.
5. Keep security as your top concern
When you manage the attendance system manually, you have the responsibility to securing every employee’s data, social security number, and bank account details.
When you use a cloud-based attendance tracking system, you give the responsibility of securing the data to a third party. Don’t look for affordable options when it comes to such systems because there are many fake ones on the market.
Take a review of the people who have used the product already, ask in forums, and read online reviews and only then finalize on software.
Look for a vendor who provides a service-level guarantee. The software should be well-equipped with a secure firewall, antivirus protocol, disaster recovery, SSAE compliance, and recovery of lost data. A cloud system is the easiest way to secure all data but only if you invest in a good one.
6. Comply government regulations
No matter which country you work in, there are strict rules that you must abide. For example, the United States of America has the Fair Labor Standards Act. If the software you use doesn’t comply the act, you can’t use it, or else you will get into serious trouble.
Some common issues that can cause non-compliance are no section for overtime work hours, the software should be able to move attendance data automatically to a worksheet, and worksheets that are difficult to audit.
Email the attendance system provider and ask for all the features included in the system.
If you sense any noncompliant functionality in your system, move on to another one. Avoid any costly mishaps and talk to your employer if you aren’t sure about anything.
Maintain a centralized attendance system which is easy to use and offers all essential features. Hosting and security should be your major concerns. Be extra careful and pay attention to details and you will never go wrong. Move along with advanced technology and find innovative ways to reduce work and make it more efficient.
